Ninth Korean tanker transits Red Sea as Seoul works to secure oil supply amid Hormuz disruption

A ninth Korean tanker has cleared the Red Sea and is heading home from Saudi Arabia as the government steps up monitoring to stabilize crude imports.

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The Universal Winner, a very large crude carrier operated by HMM and the first Korean vessel stranded in the Strait of Hormuz following the Middle East conflict to exit the waterway, approaches a buoy at an offshore crude oil unloading facility off Ulsan on June 10 to discharge its cargo.

Another Korean tanker made it through the Red Sea as an alternative route to the Strait of Hormuz, making it the ninth Korean tanker to break free from being stranded in the Middle East amid tensions stemming from the Iran War.

The tanker loaded crude oil at the Saudi Arabian port of Yanbu and is currently sailing to Korea after transiting the Red Sea, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries on Sunday.  

The vessel is the ninth Korean tanker to transit the Red Sea since mid-April. The tankers have been arriving at Korean ports in succession and unloading their crude oil cargoes.

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“The government supported the safety of the vessel and its crew through round-the-clock real-time monitoring, the provision of navigational safety information and the operation of a real-time communication channel among the ministry, the shipping company and the vessel while it was passing the Red Sea,” the ministry said.

“We will continue to make every effort to help stabilize Korea's crude oil supply.”


BY CHO MUN-GYU   [[email protected]]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

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